IDENTIFYING AND TEACHING CREATIVITY. THE GENERAL COLLEGE STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, VOLUME I, NUMBER 1, 1963-1965.

AMRAM, FRED M.; GIESE, DAVID L.

STUDIES WERE DESIGNED TO DETERMINE WHETHER CREATIVITY CAN BE MEASURED AND TAUGHT. THE INVESTIGATORS DEFINED CREATIVITY IN EXPERIMENTAL TERMS, BASED ON SCORES OBTAINED BY MEASURING FOUR FACTORS--FLUENCY, FLEXIBILITY, ORIGINALITY, AND ELABORATION. FLUENCY IS THE FACILITY WITH WHICH IDEAS CAN BE GENERATED, FLEXIBILITY IS THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PRINCIPLES, STRATEGIES OR APPROACHES USED IN RESPONSE TO A TASK, ORIGINALITY IS THE UNIQUENESS OF THE RESPONSE TO A TEST ITEM, AND ELABORATION IS THE NUMBER OF DETAILS SUPPLIED BEYOND THOSE NECESSARY TO COMMUNICATE A BASIC IDEA. RESULTS OF THREE STUDIES INDICATED THAT (1) STUDENTS IN CLASSES FOR CREATIVE THINKING CAN GAIN IN ORIGINALITY, (2) TESTS CAN BE DEVISED TO MEASURE THE VARIOUS FACTORS OF CREATIVITY, AND (3) IN TESTS OF CREATIVITY, THERE IS LITTLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VERBAL AND NONVERBAL TASKS, WITH HIGHER CORRELATIONS BETWEEN FACTORS WITHIN VERBAL AND NONVERBAL TASKS. FOR OTHER REPORTS IN THIS SERIES, SEE JC 670 962 AND JC 670 970. (HH)